El fin

It wasn’t until my junior year of high school that I truly started valuing school at a different level. My parents had always pressed on about school being the most important thing we can give ourselves. I am thankful for their lack of tolerance with bad grades. When I was younger, I remember being jealous of the other kids whose parents paid them on behalf of their good grades. I suggested this to my mother once and she scoffed at me.  “I’ll earn more money from it later” she said.

            My language and composition class that junior year changed my perception of the way a classroom should function. We had a teacher that was unlike many of my own in a manner that simply suggested that she was genuinely interested in how our day was and seemingly concerned with how we shaped our voice. Not only did this bring our class closer together, but we were able to discuss topics of required reading of Into the Wild, Three Cups of Tea, The Color of Water, When the Caged Bird Sings and a few others more freely. We spent a considerable amount of time reflecting and analyzing Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson unbeknownst to his visit to our school a year later. For those who do not know of the book, mountaineer Greg Mortenson stumbles down the Karakoram Mountain of the Himalayan Mountains off the border of Pakistan and India. The less fortunate people of Korphe find him and nurse him back to health while instilling the importance of drinking and cherishing tea. Before he departs for home, he promises the villagers that he would return with the purpose of building them a better school. By raising awareness of the people and his journey, he eventually founds the non-profit Central Asia Institute and turns stones into schools. With this book, I discovered that I wanted to help people on a more personal level through anthropology and teaching, or nursing or art or all of it. I am fortunate enough to live in a country where I can take the most advantage of my educational opportunities. Compared to the people who grew up without this privilege like the villagers in Korphe, I can redirect my focus of study where it makes the most positive difference in their well-being.

            Even when I’m near tears with stress of homework and finals, I remember the intent behind all of my work and how much pressure there is upon me to be the louder voice of somebody. I am thankful for the expensive opportunity in hopes I will continue to discover deeper in a land of doors.